Adaptive Behavior free essay sample

Students who are only mildly affected may be difficult to diagnose or recognize, since there may be no visual cues. It has been estimated that over four million Americans have an Intellectual or developmental disability (Larson, 2000). However this figure could be misleading, since it is suspected that many school age students are misdiagnosed with other learning disabilities, developmental delay, behavior disorder, or autism instead of intellectual disability. Some still use the term mental retardation, to refer to individuals with ID. This term is perceived as outdated and offensive. Families, educators, and the general public are becoming aware that Intellectual Disability is the legal and appropriate term to identify individuals with this disability. One common question people have is why we need to distinguish intellectual disability from developmental disability. The answer is that there are major differences like, the age symptoms first appear, the severity of the limitations experienced, and the requirements of a low IQ score. We will write a custom essay sample on Adaptive Behavior or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Because of this many students with intellectual disability would not meet the definition of developmental disabled. It has been estimated that at least half of individuals with intellectual disabilities will not meet the functional limitation requirements in the IDEA definition of developmentally disabled. So the many members of the general public ask what intelligence is. Is there any real way to define or test intelligence? Who defines what true intelligence is. Can intelligence be passed on genetically? Or can your environment impact your intelligence? What happens if your environment is unhealthy? According to David Wechsler, intelligence is defined as â€Å"The aggregate or global capacity of an individual to act purposefully, to think rationally and deal effectively with his environment. † Basically intelligence refers to a person’s general mental capacity; which includes their reasoning skills, ability to plan, problem solve, their ability to think abstractly, the comprehension of complex ideas, their ability to learn from experience and the speed in which they are able to learn. Some professionals believe that the measurement of intelligence is impossible. While others believe that any endeavors to define intelligence have resulted in definitions that are both narrow and circular. Educators today use Intelligence Quotient tests to measure intelligence. If a child receives IQ score of 70 or below, they may be presumed to have an intellectual disability. Besides an IQ requirement The definition of intellectual disability also requires identification of significant limitations in the area of adaptive behavior. A students Adaptive behavior is considered to be a collaboration of practical, social and conceptual skills, that are required to function in everyday life. The lives of students who have significant limitations in adaptive behavior are impacted daily. Their ability to respond to situations in their environment is affected. Skills like expressive and receptive writing, reading. Self direction and the concept of money are conceptual skills. Interpersonal skills like following directions or rules, obeying laws or being responsible are all considered social skills. Activities that everyone must do to live like eating, dressing, and going to the bathroom are considered receptive and expressive language, like writing and reading, the concept of money and self-direction. Social skills are interpersonal skills like responsibility, self-esteem, following rules, and obeying the law, or being responsible are all considered social skills. Activities that everyone must do to live like eating, dressing, and going to the bathroom are practical skills. If a student displays behavior that demonstrates a deficient in one or more of these areas it could be an indicator that they have an intellectual disability. There are a variety of problems associated with the assessments of students with intellectual disabilities. Students with intellectual disabilities often have more then one impairment. They may be visually and or hearing impaired. They are not standard or what is perceived as typical. Many special educators may have extensive knowledge in one field but know relatively little about another. Assessment experts who are knowledgeable in their specialized area of expertise may have little knowledge regarding students with intellectual disabilities. Many of the assessment tools utilized by educators developed for typical students are not appropriate or useful for students with intellectual disabilities. Even those with mild intellectual disabilities are unable to be scaled on standardized tests. The rate at which these students learn can be very slow and inconsistent. Their sensory, and or cognitive impairments require that educators understand that even the simplest of tasks take a whole academic year to master. In the past students with intellectually disabilities were considered to difficult to assess or instruct. As a result they were not included in accountability and assessment systems. The exclusion of these students denied them the opportunity to be considered in a system that was designed to improve their education by identifying problems. Research shows that the performance level of students with disabilities is lower then that of students with out disabilities (Klein, Wiley, Thurlow, 2006; Thurlow, Bremer, Albus, 2008; VanGetson Thurlow, 2007). The question is, is do the features of individual assessment interfere with student’s ability to effectively demonstrate specified skills or knowledge. If that is the case then these assessment results are ineffective in guiding the instruction efforts of educators. It seems clear that more effective assessment methods should be used in the evaluation of students with intellectual disabilities, in order to portray student’s level of knowledge and skills more accurately. Today experts in the field of special education have been more successful in implementing practices and assessment tools that reduce obstacles and barriers in educator’s ability to identify what students with intellectual disabilities actually understand and have the ability to do. Educators have a greater understanding of the assessment of students with intellectual disabilities. They understand that it takes a variety of assessment tools and that those assessments must be conducted over a period of time. For adaptive behavior, assessment questionnaires should be utilized by both parents and teachers. They can do real time observations in the student’s natural environment. They can look at the actual work of students and instead of comparing it ith the work of same age peers, they can compare it to previous work the student has done, to determine the student’s progress. These assessments should be done in a variety of settings over a period of time. According to some assessment specialists one goal of assessment must be to provide the necessary Data to inform instruction but the reality is that what is considered performance and accountability, is not. Teachers of students with Intellectual disabilities report that though the students have the sa me diagnosis, the impact their disability has on their learning can be varied. Some common characteristics might be: Physical Characteristics Physical underdevelopment Below average weight and height Some type of physical deformity Retarded balance and movement Mental characteristics Below average IQ Poorly developed language and speech Poor concentration, thinking, attention, memory, perception, imagination, and computing Social characteristics Lack of ability to adjust socially Inability to act responsibly Aggressive Poor self Aloof Lack of interest in outside activities Emotional characteristics Emotionally imbalanced Constant or excessive movement Late or premature reactions Primitive reactions Learning and memory Difficulty in responding to various stimuli Easily distracted Short attention span Defects in short-term memory Poor reading comprehension Delayed oral language skills Poor vocabulary skills Though there are certain characteristics that are common among students with ID each student should be treated as a unique and separate person in order to ensure students receive the education guaranteed them by law. .